Well, when you unplug their respirator, they die. They need to be transported by ground units, which is what the snipers were trying to get to get out of the city with their loot.
Actually, ventilator dependent patients can be transported by being bagged (breathed) by a manual resuscitator. But, that takes one to one health worker to patient.
I think they eventually took those residents out by helicopter too, but I could be wrong. One of the worst managed things about this crisis has been the hospitals, caring for the most vulnerable among us, left to their own devices.
Somewhere I read this morning that people showing up in Texas are so traumatized, that Gov. Perry has been asked to declare Texas a state of emergency.